Building the Frontier
by McToaster
Summary: Taking place directly after the end of "A New Frontier" this version includes Javi, David, and others after Richmond is reclaimed and new threats begin to show up. (Kate is dead in this version as it is based on my decisions from the game) Minor and original characters will be introduced, but there will be a large focus on Clem, David, and Javi.
1. Chapter 1

Something to believe in

A single gun shot broke the silence which had covered the small town of Petersburg. Everything living and dead heard the shot. As the walkers began to turn and drag themselves toward the sound, more shots rang out from the roof of a building at the end of the main road. Walkers dropped one by one, but more kept appearing. It had seemed as if there was an endless amount of them, but that didn't stop the individual behind the gun. It was David, and he was alone. He hadn't said anything to Javi and Gabe before leaving to a nearby town. He left a note saying he'd return, but everyone was skeptical of this. David knew he would go back, but he also knew he needed this. Being alone helped him cope with his feelings and helped him process what had happened recently. As the last bullet was fired from the rifles clip, he loaded another, which he grabbed from a bag that seemed to have an endless amount of them. He hadn't talked in front of anyone in months, but that didn't mean he was silent. When he went out on his little trips, he would swear under his breath if he missed a shot or saw a walker that reminded him of someone he use to know. When he saw Kate lying dead in the street… something changed in him, something he couldn't talk about. He had never told Javi thank you for saving him and Gabe. David hid the fact that he would spend every night crying, wishing it had been him instead of Kate and that he had trusted his brother more. He knew Javi would, and had, forgiven him for everything he had done to him, but he had to learn to forgive himself first. Gabe was growing up to be like his uncle, and David knew that this was for the best. It isn't easy to sit back and watch someone else raise your child, especially after what you had done to both of them. David wasn't on a self-guided mission to get himself killed or attempt to distance himself from the group. His goal was to kill as many of the undead fucks as he could before he died, to protect his family and those who couldn't fight. He was a hot tempered but tender-hearted person who used anger before love and never wanted anyone to see his weak side. Except for Javi. There is something special about a brotherly bond, something that outweighs any other relationship in a family unit. Your mother is your first love, if you're a boy, and you want to find a woman like her. Your father is who you set out to be, he's your role model. But your brother is your first friend, your partner in crime who will rat you out to save his ass one day and then the next he puts himself on the line for you, taking all the blame if it is necessary. Brotherly love is different from anything else. No one else can beat the shit of you and play board games with you in the same day like a brother can and that's something that David can't forget. Every now and then he catches himself thinking of all the times him and Javi would pull pranks on each other and how often he would make Javi take the blame for things that he had clearly not done. Even after everything, even after Javi became a world renown baseball player, he still looked up to his older brother and David knew this. Time flew by and before David knew it he had run out of ammo and the street was littered with well over a hundred walker bodies. David packed up his empty clips and his gun and began to climb down fire escape ladder from the roof when he heard the sound of a car engine. He quickly dropped down to the street and found cover. When he heard the engine turn off he peaked around the corner of the building he had pushed himself against and tried to see who it was. At first he didn't see anyone, but then he saw a group of men walk around the corner of a building about two blocks down. These men were fully armored, looked almost as if they were a part of the military, but one thing in particular was different. The symbol stitched into their uniforms was a picture of a crucified walker and written across the image was "THE SAVIORS". (This is not a Negan and/or Comic crossover, this is a separate group and plot and will not contain any characters or characteristics similar to that of the Saviors in the TV show or comics.) David had never seen this group before, but based on their outfits, he knew they were organized. He was not about to jump out and introduce himself, because he knew that would result in a swift death, even if they were "good guys" someone might be a little to trigger happy in the group. The group seemed to be patrolling the area, pretty much doing mundane work, that was until they found a walker. Instead of killing it quickly, the group of men surrounded the walker and demobilized it, detained it like a cop would a criminal and then half of the group split off to construct something. When David saw that the group that had split off return with a make shift cross and witnessed the walker being hoisted up onto it and crucified on the spot, he knew he had to warn Javi and the others. It wasn't just the event that warned David about this group, but what followed it. With the blood of the walker, the men wrote on a piece of plywood that was placed underneath the walker "SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN. THE SAVIORS WILL FREE YOU". David hauled ass back to Richmond knowing that he would have to break his silence to save those he loved and to save the only place he could call home anymore. The sun was setting and David soon found himself in the darkness of the night, making him feel as if the chapter of silence in his life was over and now a new one was beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

_It was that dream again. I have it almost every time I shut my eyes to sleep. Kate… she just looked so sad. I didn't feel myself pull the trigger, I just heard the shot ring out through the streets around me. Then nothing. Clementine pulled on my jersey and everything came back to me. She was gone and there was nothing I could do about it. I felt my legs give out from underneath me and I feel to the ground. I felt my body shaking and a faint voice yelling my name from a long distance. The voice was getting closer and closer until I could make out who it was._

"Javi! Javi! Wake up! You were having that same nightmare about Kate again." Clementine shook me awake as she was yelling at me.

"Okay I'm up! I just can't stop thinking about it, it's not like I want to dream about it." I pulled myself up from my cot and looked at Clementine. I knew she was just trying to help me out, but it was something I had to deal with personally.

"I know it's hard Javi, but it's best not to dwell on the past. Remembering them is important, but it shouldn't dictate your life." She was right. This teenage girl had gone through far worst and had learned way more than I had in my entire life. I just couldn't get past the fact that had I gone with Kate, I could have saved her, I could have saved everyone. I thought I was doing the right thing by David, but he hasn't talk to me in months. Gabe lives with him and he can't even get him to talk.

"Thanks Clementine. I think I need a moment alone now, if you don't mind." She nodded in agreement and left the room. After she went off to find AJ, she had found out that he was happy right where he was and that sadly he had forgotten who she was. Clementine was devastated at first, I remember when she first arrived back that she wouldn't talk to anyone but Gabe and I and it was a rare occasion that she would talk to us even then. She was sad and lonely, something that the walkers have caused us all to feel. We have seen so many loved ones become them and have had to kill them because we can't stand to see them that way. But that isn't the worst part. It is when the person is alive and refuses to stand beside you or at least be a fellow human being, that is what hurts the most and can cause anyone to feel lonely.

Clementine has lived with me since she returned from her trip to find AJ and since then the two of us are deemed "inseparable" by the majority of friends we have in Richmond. It's like a father-daughter relationship and I can tell that it makes a difference in her life to have someone to go to answer question and to hear her out when she wants to talk. Things like this are rare these days considering how short the lifespan of survivors is outside any protected areas like Richmond.

I got up and washed my face and swapped out my shirt for one that was, if one could even say this, clean. From my window I could hear the front gate opening and then there was loud screams. Not screams of terror, but of panic. I made my way down to the street as quickly as possible, Clementine followed right behind me. I saw a crowd circling around the entrance of the gate and made my way through it.

In the middle of the crowd was David. His arm was bleeding from what was presumably a gun shot. He looked at me with terror in his eyes, something I hadn't seen for a very long time from my brother. Then he opened his mouth and spoke, something he had not done since Kates death.

"Javi, we have a new problem. There's another group of survivors out there that are organized and dangerous. I saw them when I was taking out walkers and I saw what they did to the walkers they killed. They fucking hung the walkers on crosses. They used the blood of the dead to write a message out too and left their groups name on it. Saviors is what they call themselves, they're like some crazy religious cult group Javi."

I was take aback by what he said. We hadn't had more than a couple people show up at our gates in the last couple months, let alone a full fledged group of crazy cult members.

"Did they follow you back here David? You need to get that bullet wound looked at and then we will talk more." David nodded in response and we made our way towards the make-shift infirmary we had set up in the school. Once we were away from everyone else, David began to talk again.

"Look Javi, I should tell you that I killed the men from the Saviors before any of them could follow me or get away, but that's a band aid on a bigger issue. These guys are organized, similar to an experienced military unit. They have better gear, weapons, and they seem to have more at their disposal then we do. We need to prepare ourselves for what comes next."

I couldn't help but smile when David said this, he hadn't changed at all in the last couple months. The silent asshole had just been out trying to find his way or looking out for us in his own way.

"Brother, I should apologize for not talking the last couple of months. It's just… Kate… I can't… Fuck it. I care about my family and I'm sorry I haven't been there for you and Gabe."

"David, it's okay. We knew you needed some time to figure things out and just know that Gabe and I are both in the same place as you. It's hard man, but we gotta help each other through it."

David smiled and went in for a hug. This wasn't normal for him, usually I would receive a punch before a hug, but not today. We arrived at the infirmary and David went in to get his wound checked out. I waited outside till he was done. Clementine walked in and approached me with what I assumed would be another "awkward" question that she needed an answer to.

"Hey Javi, I was just wondering… How would you tell someone that you like them? Not that I like anyone or anything like that, but I mean how would an adult tell another adult that they like them?"

Gabe must have worked his magic on Clementine. I laughed a little and couldn't help but smiling.

"Well Clem, normal people tend to just tell the person that they like that they like them. But no ones normal anymore, so I think that whatever way you would like to tell them is perfectly acceptable."

Clementine smiled and gave me "well that wasn't helpful" look.

"Thanks Javi. You know sometimes…"

She was cut off by the siren we used in Richmond to warn of us either breach by walkers or worse. David busted through the door of the infirmary all patched up and without a word the three of us ran out to the gate once again except this time it wouldn't be for an expected guest.


End file.
